This past weekend I went to Portland for the Ichs and Herps meeting. Portland has a huge contingent of street people. Surprisingly, there were many professors talking with these folks. This doesn't strike me as either snooty or snobish. Snooty and snobish people typically turn up their noses at these folks and make them feel worse than they already do!
Malcolm On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 3:23 AM, William Silvert<[email protected]> wrote: > I've often heard intellectuals classified as snobs, but I haven't seen much > evidence that this is the case, and Wayne's "cause" seems to be more of a > myth than a fact. > > Consider classical music. The people I know who share my taste in music > generally don't like C&W, R&B, hip-hop and such, but I rarely hear them talk > about it and certainly not put it down (the one exception being "elevator > music"). But I often hear people who don't like classical characterise it as > screeching, boring, and generally they have insulting things to say about > it. > > The same goes for literature. If you are reading War and Peace in a public > place you are more likely to provoke condescending comments than if you are > reading a popular romance or detective thriller. > > The curious fact is that people admire those who are strong or fast, and > great atheletes are popular heroes. But in the one area where humans excel > over other animals, intelligence, being smart is viewed negatively - and if > you are clearly intelligent then you don't have to say anything, people will > call you an arrogant snob even if you just sit quietly in a corner and read > a book. > > So I think that Wayne is wrong to blame the intellectuals. Most societies > are hostile to people who are conspicuously smart no matter how they behave, > although there are exceptions (the French love intellectuals!). > > Bill Silvert > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne Tyson" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 12:58 AM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Reason and rhetoric The Fall and Growth of Intellectual > Discipline ECOLOG as fertile ground? > > > "Intellectual" has gotten a bad rap over the years. I suspect that one of > the primary causes is the snooty way those who think of themselves as > intellectuals claim superiority over the more plain-spoken "folk." > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology Texas A&M University-Texarkana Fall Teaching Schedule: Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40 General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm
